Bottle-stopper



No; 623,304. Patented Apr. is, |899. c. N. muscu.

BOTTLE STOPPER.

(.Application lad July 16, 189B.) (No Mudel.)

y Winn Ilivrrn "f FFICFQ@ CHARLES N. BRISCO, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,304, dated April 18, 1899.

Application filed .l'nly l5, 1898. Serial No. 686,016. (No 'model To (all whom, it' nto/y concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES N. Brusco, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bottle-Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in Stoppers for bottles or other receptacles of the class employed more especially as origin al receptacles or packages for special kinds of liquid merchandise to render the bottle non-refillable, and thus prevent such second or repeated use thereof by unauthorized persons as would enable them to'reill the bottle and on the strength of the known guarantee of the bottle itself deceive users into the belief that the substitute contents were supplied by the original bottlers.

My object is to provide a simple and inexpensive bottle-stopper which while permitting original contents to beA readily poured from the bottle will by preventing reiilling of the bottle operate as an effective safeguard against use of the bottle a second time without such injury to theparts of the stopper as will lead to easy detection.

In the drawings, Figure I is a sectional view of the neck portion of a bottle with my improvements in place and showing the stopper closed; Fig. 2, a view similar to Fig. I, but showing the stopper open to permit pouring of contents from the bottle; Fig. 3, a top plan view of the valve; Fig. 4, a perspective view, on a reduced scale, of a housing-piece forming one of the details of construction; Fig. 5, a View in elevation of a spring and spring-holder, Fig. G, an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5, taken from another side; Fig. 7, a bottom plan view of a shield for the mouth of the bottle, forming part of the stopper construction; Fig. S, a side elevation of the part shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 9, a wire locking-piece employed to secure the stopper against opening in transit; Fig. IO, a bottom plan view of the handle for opening and closing the valve; Fig. Il, a broken and partly-sectional elevation of the upper part of the stopper, and Fig. I2 a plan view of a blank or seal employed with the stopper as an additional safeguard.

A is the mouth or neck portion of a bottle. Crowded into and preferably cemented in place in the neck A in the position shown is a ring B, which may be of cork, provided With the central opening t, surrounded by a valveseat t. A f

C is a shield or cap having a flat Lipper face s and providedon its underside with a downward-projecting tubular portion or sleeve s', having preferably three radial projections or lugs s2. The under face of the cap-piece C is formed with radial serrations presenting attaching parts s3 and an annular series of outlets S4. In practice the shield or cappiece C rests at the parts s3 upon the upper end ot the bottle, the parts s3 being recessed, as indicated at 35, to tit snugly over the annular end atthe mouth ofthe bottle. The lugs or projections s2 lit closely against the inner wallof the neck portion ofthe bottle, as shown. To secure the shield or cap-piece in place, Iprovide a cement which will be unaffected by moisture and which will secure the parts firmly together. For bottles of different sizes I provide cap-pieces C to correspond and it snugly in place. Extending through the sleeve portion s is the central opening s6, flanked by vertical grooves or recesses $7. The upper face portion of the cap-piece is recessed around the opening s to produce an annular shallowr socket S8. The lower end of the sleeve portion s2 is shaped to form a pair 0f segmental cams S9, which commence at and are deepest at the grooves S7.

D is a disk or handle having a flat under surface to tit closely against the upper suri and confined between the cap C and disk D, Y

around the stem r, is a spring r. On the lower end portion of the stem r are radiallyextending pins or lugs r2, which when the stem is inserted through the opening senter and pass through the grooves S7. The stem fr is of such length that when inserted to a position where the disk D is close to but out of contact with the top of the cap-piece C, asshown in Fig. 2, the pins r2 are just below the lower ends of the sockets ST. Turning of the disk D causes the pins r2 to slide IOO upon the cams s and 'draw the disk D to the surface of the cap-piece C against the resistance of the spring o", as shown in Fig. l.

D is a valve shaped at its underside to fit the valve-seat t' and provided at its upper side with acircumferential recessq and preferably three u pward-projecting guide-lugs q'.

D2 is a housing-piece having an enlarged lower end portion p to tit closely the annular groove qot the valve and having an upwardextending reduced sleeve portion p-, fitting over the lower end ot" the stem 9 in an inner annular socket S10 in the lower end portion of the sleeve s'. In the sleeve portion p' of the housing-piece are bayonet-sockets p2, which receive the pins r2 on the stem r, whereby the parts D2 D are held together. In the top of the part p of the housing-piece around the sleeve portion p is a series of openings p3, and in the sleevep, just above the part p, is an internal annular shoulder or socket p4.

In the upper side ofthe valve D' is a centralV socket q2.

D3 is a spring lock or holder formed, preferably, of a strip of flat springy metal and bent to produce the base n, shoulders n n2, inner sockets n3, and shoulders n4. Surrounding the. spring-holder D3, between the shoulders n n2, is a confined helical spring D4, and

held in the sockets nis a tablet, disk, or body D5 of a solvent material. The tablet D5 holds the jaws of the spring-holder D3 apart, whereby the shoulders n4 fit the annular groove p in the housing-piece D2. On removal or disintegration of the tablet D5 the jaws of the spring-holder tend by their resilience to approach each other, release the shoulders n4 from the annular sockets p1, and release the spring DL from confinement bythe shoulders n2, whereby it will expand upward against the lower end ofthe stem 9' and press the valve D to the seat t.

The parts are placed in position in a bottle after the latter has been iilled with the liquid. The ring or cork B is first passed into the neck of the bottle, positioned, and preferably cemented in place. The disk or handle D and cap-piece C are put together by passing the stem yr through the opening s with the spring r' between t-hem. The spring-holder D3 is cemented or otherwise secured in the socket q2 of the valveand the housing-piece D2 placed upon the valve and secured thereto by springing the shoulders n4 of the springholder into the socket 154. The housing, with the valve thus attached thereto, is then fastened at its bayonet-sockets to the pins r2 and held thereby securely.

In practice the stem fr should be cemented or otherwise rigidly fastened to the sleeve portion p of thc housing-piece, so that they will always turn vtogether and whereby they will be held against separation. The cappiece C, with the valve and disk D, carried thereby, is then passed into the mouth ot the bottle and cemented in place at the surfaces 55 and surfaces of the lugs S2, the parts being in such relation that when the handle is turned to press the valve D' down the latter will seat upon the cork B and form a liquidtight closure for the bottle. Vhen it is desired to withdraw liquid contents from the bottle, the handle or disk D is turned, whereby the pins r2 slide up the cams s under the resilient action of the spring r to raise the disk D from the cap-piece C, and thus raise the valve D from its seat. As the bottle is upset the liquid rims through the opening t and passage about the valve, housing-piece,

`aud sleeve s' and out through the openings s4 between the cap-piece and the upper end of the bottle.

The housing-piece D2 with the valve D together form a housing-chamber p5, closed against the passage of liquid at all parts except at the openings p3, which are purposely small, None of the liquid escaping from the bottle as it is poured will enter through the openings p3, so that the tablet or body D5, of soluble material, will be shielded against contact therewith of the liquid. lVhen any attempt is made to refill the bottle either by immersing it in liquid or pumping it in, the back pressure of air in the bottle will cause liquid to rise around the housing-piece and work its way into the chamber p5 and by contacting with the soluble material D5 disintegrate the same, thereby releasing the springholder and spring D1 and causing the latter to expand against the lower surface of the stem r andpress the valve D' permanently to its seat. Vhen this has occurred, the raising andlowering ot the disk D and stem a' will not affect the valve,wh ich by remaining closed will prevent any more liquid from being passed into the bottle or any that may have entered the bottle from being poured therefrom.

IDO

IOS

The gist of my invention lies in providing within the passage through the neck of the bottle a chamber containing a valve-closing spring and held out ot its valve-closing position by the tablet, block, or body of solvent material, the chamber being in open communication with the passage through oneor more ports which are out of the path of the liquid as it escapes from the bottle, but in position to receive liquid when the same is poured into the mouth of the bottle. As liquid is poured it exerts no pressure against the ports p3, so that the air confined in the chamber p5 will tend to prevent any of the liquid from entering the chamber and wetting the tablet. On the other hand, when liquid is poured into the mout-h of the bottle the pressure, as before stated, of the air in the neck and body portion of the bottle causes the liquid to force its way into the chamber p5, and thus wet and disintegrate the tablet and release the spring to permanently close the valve.

The body or tablet D5 is compressed, pref,- crably, into the disk form shown, and the mashould be one that will remain hard and in- IIO IIC

'tact while dry and disintegrate quickly when subjected to moisture. If desired, the material employed for the tablet maybe such that it will not affect deleteriously the liquid which the bottle is designed to contain, or, if desired, it may have chemical properties which will tend to change the color or appearance of the liquid with which it contacts.

The disk D, stem r, cap-piece C, and valve D may be formed of glass. The housingpiece D2 may be of glass, or it may be formed of Celluloid or other suitable material which will be readilyinjured by heat to destroy its use or form. The cement I employ forsecuring the cap-piece in place is one that will effectively withstand the action of moisture, and by employing material for the housingpiece D2 which would be injured or destroyed by heat it would be impossible to remove and replace the cap-piece and attendant parts without doing such damage thereto as would lead to ready detection.

As a further safeguard against removal of the cap-piece I provide a sealE, of metal foil or other suitable material, consisting of a strip having a central portion m to fit upon the cap-piece and provided with an opening m of the size of and registering with the socket .SS to extend around the spring f1", openings fnt? to register with openings s4, and leg portions in. The central part m is cemented to the cap-piece C, and the legs m3 are cemented to the neck of the bottle, and while the seal will not interfere with the turning ofthe disk or handle D or with the pouring of the liquid it will be broken in any attempt to remove the cap-piece from the bottle. As is customary where seals are employed, it may be stamped or marked with the private trademark or the like of the bottler.

To prevent danger of accidental turning of the disk D to open the bottle during shipment, I provide sockets Z in opposite sides of the disk and corresponding sockets Z in opposite sides of the cap-piece C to register with the sockets Z when the valve is closed. I also provide a wire locking-piece F, havinga body portion 7; andlegs 71;. lVhen passed or sprung over the disk C, the legs k will enter the sockets ZZ in the disk and cap-piece, and thus lock the diskagainst turning.

-While I prefer to construct my improvements throughout as shown and described, they may be modified without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined by the claims.

XVhat I- claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a bottle-stopper, a valve, a valve-closing spring, a housing provided with ports admitting liquid thereinto when it is attempted to refill the bottle, and a solvent body or itsv equivalent within said housing normally holding said spring against action and protected by the housing against liquid contact while the bottle contents are being poured out, said body being exposed to liquid contact when an 2. In a bottle-stopper, the combination with a valve-seat and valve at the base portion of the stopper, means for opening and closing the valve, an outlet for liquid toward the outer end of the stopper, and a passage for the liquid extending from the valve-seat to said outlet, of a chambercolnmunicatingwith said passage, a valve-closing spring, a body of solvent material in said chamber holding the spring out of its valve-closing position and operating when disintegrated by contact with liquid to release the spring to seat the valve, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a bottle-stopper, the combination of a cap-piece, to fit the mouth of the bottle, having a sleeve portion to extend into the neck of the bottle'and form an outlet-passage for liquid about the sleeve portion, a valve-0perating handle havinga stem passing through said sleeve portion, 'a valve-seat in the neck of the bottle, a valve at the valve-seat, a housing-piece between the valve and stem forming a chamber communicating With said outlet-passage, a removable valve-attaching piece in said chamber securing the valve to the said stem, a valve-closing spring in said chamber, a body of solvent material in the chamber operating to hold the valve-attaching piece in valve attaching position and the spring out of valve closing position, whereby when the solvent material is disintegrated by contact with liquid the valve-closing spring is released and the valve-attaching piece is disconnected, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a bottle-stopper, the combination of a cap-piece, to t the mout-h of the bottle, having a sleeve portion to extend into the neck of the bottle and form an outlet-passage for liquid about the sleeve portion, a valve-0perating handle having a stem passing through said sleeve portion, a valve-seat in the neck of the bottle, a valve at the valve-seat, a housing-piece between the valve and stem, of material readily susceptible to injury by heat, forming a chamber communicating with said outlet-passage, a removable valve-attaching piece in said chamber securing the valve to the said stem, a valve-closing spring in said chamber, a body of solvent material in the chamber operating to hold the valve-attaching piece in .valve-attaching position and the spring out of valve-closing position, whereby when the solvent material is disintegrated by contact with liquid the valve-closing spring is released and the valve-attaching piece is disconnected, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a bottle-stopper, the combination of a cap-piece, to fit the mouth of the bottle having an opening through it, and having discharge-ports whereby liquid may pass from IOO IIO

the mouth, a handle having a stem passing under the conditions specified and for the through said opening in the Cap-piece, a purpose set forth. valve-seat in Jhe bottle, a Valve, and means l CHARLES NBRISCO.

connecting said valve rigidly to said stem to cause the Valve to move positively up and clown with the stem, said means being Capa- In presence 0f RICHARD T. SPENCER,

ble of disconnecting the valve from the stem l M. J. FROST. 

